Photographer's Note

Lieutenant-general Matvei Platov, the Ataman of the Don Cossacks, founded Novocherkassk in 1805 as the administrative center of the Don Host Oblast.

The Ascension Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church one of the largest churches of the Russian Empire and the main church of the Don Host Province.

The five-domed building, which stands 75 meters tall, is a notable example of the Russian Neo-Byzantine architecture. It was erected between 1891 and 1904 on the site of an earlier church. The first church on the site was built to Luigi Rusca's designs. It collapsed in 1846. A replacement church collapsed 17 years later.
The existing church building was designed by a local architect, Alexander Yashchenko, and dedicated in 1905.